College Royal connections

1886 

30 June – Royal Holloway is opened by Queen Victoria. The Queen graciously permitted the use of Royal in the College’s name.

In the north quadrangle, George Martin Holloway, the brother-in-law of Jane Holloway, presented the Queen with a gold casket decorated with a portrait of Thomas Holloway who had died in 1883.

 

1890

Prince (Frederick) Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Queen Victoria’s son-in-law, was proposed to be an Honorary Governor of Royal Holloway. He was closely involved with George Martin Holloway and the establishment of the College. The Prince lived at Windsor Great Park.

1891

The Empress Frederick, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, opened and inspected the Shaen Wing, which were science laboratories, in York Place. This was the first royal visit to Bedford College.

1896

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein became a governor and chairman of Bedford College. 

1904

Her Majesty Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII, became the first Royal Patron of Bedford College.

1907

Bedford College applied for a Royal Charter.

1909

Bedford College was awarded Royal Assent. 

1910

The Duchess of Marlborough became closely involved with the appeal to help Bedford College raise funds to facilitate the move of the College to Regent’s Park.

1913

HM Queen Mary, consort of King George V, opened the Regent’s Park site of Bedford College. The Queen is seen leaving the Tate Library with the Principal Miss Margaret Tuke.

The Queen’s hat was decorated with masses of ostrich feathers in pale pink, blue and mauve to match her dress. Students had been practised in the court curtsey by a dancing mistress.

Queen Mary and Queen Dowager Alexandra were joint patrons of Bedford and gave special sanctions for emblems representative of themselves to be embodied in the new Bedford College Arms.

1921 and 1922

  HRH Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, attended summer garden parties at Bedford College. 

The funds raised by these events went towards the Extension and Endowment Appeal. 

The Principal, Miss Tuke (right) steered this activity for years and the new building was named after her.  

1927

  HRH Princess Mary, The Princess Royal, laid the Foundation stone of the Tuke Building for Bedford College. 

The ceremony to launch the new building was broadcast and there was a spirit of brighter prospects for women following the aftermath of the Great War. 

 

 

1931

HM Queen Mary opened the Tuke Building, toured the whole construction and met the Heads of seven newly-accommodated departments. 

1933

 

Earl and Countess Athlone, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, attended the Garden Party in the grounds at Bedford College. 

The Earl was then Chancellor of the University of London. 

1935

The Duchess of Kent, King George V’s daughter-in-law, awarded international nursing certificates at Bedford College. These were established in 1920 to provide solid nursing training for foreign nationals.

1936

Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, became the Chairman of the Royal Holloway College Council and later the first Chairman of the Governors of Royal Holloway in 1949, a post which she held until 1958.

1937

Queen Mary visited Royal Holloway for its Golden Jubilee celebrations, which were held a year later than planned. 

That is because King George V died in 1936, which was followed by a crisis after the abdication of Edward VIII.  

Queen Mary attended a Jubilee dinner in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the College as a teaching institution in October 1887. 

She was accompanied by Princess Alice and planted an oak tree in the north lawns. 

 

 

1937

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, was awarded an Honorary Degree of the University of London (DLit) in the year of the coronation of her husband King George VI. 

1949

HM Queen Dowager Mary attended the Centenary celebrations at Bedford College – a three-day festival. 

The centenary of the establishment coincided with a major reconstruction project following the devastation caused by bombing during the Second World War. 

 

 

1952

HRH Princess Alice presided at the reconstruction celebrations at Bedford College on 28 October and toured the new buildings. 

1955

HM The Queen Mother unveiled a plaque dedicated to Queen Mary whom she succeeded as Patron of Bedford College in 1953, the year following the death of her husband George VI. 

The Queen Mother maintained this position until the College’s merger with Royal Holloway in 1985. She then became Patron of the newly merged Royal Holloway and Bedford New College until her death in 2002.

The Queen Mother also served as Chancellor of the University of London from 1955-81.

1958 

HRH Princess Alice opened the Powell Memorial Gates at Royal Holloway. 

The ornate wrought iron entrance gates in the North Quad are a memorial to Miss Isabel Powell’s (lecturer in History 1922-55) devotion to the College. 

Pictured right is Sir John Cameron, Chairman of the Council from 1958-67. 

 

 

 

 

1960

HM The Queen Mother opens the Tuke and Reid extensions at Bedford College.

1961

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, visited Royal Holloway and viewed architectural models of proposed new buildings by Sir Leslie Martin. 

These included the first two new halls of residence – Athlone and Cameron – which were built between 1967-9. 

 

 

 

1962

The Royal Holloway College Act (1962) received the Royal Assent to admit male undergraduate students, although none arrived until October 1965. This turned out to be the same time as at Bedford College. 

 

 

1967

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, opened Hanover Lodge, a Hall of Residence in the Outer Circle, about 15 minutes’ walk across the park from Bedford College. 

 

 

 

1970

 

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, visited Royal Holloway College and was received by Princess Alice in the new hall named after her (Athlone) and toured the buildings. 

The Queen Mother met Professor Samuel Tolansky who showed her a sample of Moon Dust brought back from the NASA Apollo XI mission in 1969. 

 

 

 

 

1981

Princess Anne succeeds her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, as Chancellor of the University of London. Her first visit to Royal Holloway occurred in 1984.

 

1984

HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, paid a farewell visit to Bedford College at Regent’s Park. 

She met the Students’ Union president, Miss Delyth Morgan (pictured left), the Principal Dorothy Wedderburn and the Chairman of College Council Professor Sir Cyril Clarke (right). 

The royal was presented with a commemorative book. 

1986

HM Queen Elizabeth II visited the College to open the new Earth Sciences Building (Queen’s Building) as part of the celebration year to honour the centenary of Royal Holloway’s foundation, and the inauguration of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College by her great- great -grandmother. 

The Queen met the Principal Dorothy Wedderburn (pictured right).

In her speech in the Chapel, the Queen recalled the opening of Royal Holloway by her great-great-grandmother and expressed her hopes for the new College’s future.

1988

HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, planted a tree in McCrea Square to commemorate the merger of the two Colleges. 

 

 

 

 

1989

HRH Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, made her second visit as Chancellor of the University of London. 

She arrived in a red helicopter and toured the grounds meeting school children along the way. 

1992

HRH The Princess Royal visited Royal Holloway to open the new residential complex, Runnymede Hall, and to also view an exhibition entitled ‘Holloway in the 1990’s’.

Right- Biological Sciences Head of Department Professor John Bowyer explained the department’s research interests to Princess Anne.

 

1994

HRH The Princess Royal returned to Royal Holloway to open the new Bedford Library. 

She toured the library’s modern resources and met staff, including Director of Information Services David Sweeney (pictured left) and Principal Professor Norman Gowar (right). 

 

 

1999

HRH the Princess Royal visited Bedford College as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the institution. 

Honorary Degrees of the University of London were conferred by the Princess Royal on the Hon Mrs Justice Arden DBE, Professor Susan Greenfield, Professor Pat Easterling and Dame Pauline Neville-Jones at the College’s Graduation Ceremony.

The Princess Royal praised the sesquicentenary year as one of celebration not only of the achievements of Bedford College but also of women in general.

 

2000

HRH the Princess Royal visited to open the new International Building and to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Thomas Holloway. The year 2000 was one of celebrations to pay tribute to our founder’s vision and entrepreneurial spirit. 

The Princess Royal is pictured signing the visitor’s book with Principal Professor Drummond Bone (left).

2005

Gowar and Wedderburn Halls were opened by the Chancellor, HRH the Princess Royal.

The ceremony was attended by former Principals Norman Gowar and Professor Dorothy Wedderburn.  

The buildings incorporate 570 top quality study bedrooms with sedum planted ‘living roofs’ and numerous other environmentally-friendly features. A part of the accommodation includes the Korea University Sang II Lee Hall.  

2008

Butler, Tuke and Williamson Halls of Residence were opened by the Chancellor, HRH the Princess Royal. 

The halls are named after former principals Marjorie Williamson (1962-73), Dr Lionel Butler (1973-1981) and Dame Margaret Tuke (Bedford College Principal from 1907-1929). 

This continued the tradition of paying tribute to significant figures in the College’s history by naming buildings after them. The Princess Royal toured the development, visited study bedrooms, the refurbished dining facilities and the guest accommodation at ‘The Hub'. 

2011

 

HRH the Princess Royal visited Royal Holloway to mark our celebrations of the Silver Jubilee of the merger and the 125th anniversary of the founding of Royal Holloway College.